RETIREDThe First Epic
by The Long Name Ending In Cookie
Summary: The first in a series of 19 fics. Before Pokémon came to Earth, they lived on planets in the Epic System... they had to leave before the sun exploded, but then the strange craft showed up... this is the Fire Epic's story of Great Charizard.
1. Default Chapter

21st Century Vulpix presents  
  
THE FIRST EPIC  
By PinkScyther  
  
DISCLAIMER: None.  
  
Key: {Psychic thought speech}, translated Pokémon speech  
  
Alright, if this goes the way I plan, this is the story of the first planet in the Epic System. The name will be explained in the fic. There are 18 planets in the Epic System, so there will be 18 stories, plus another one about all of them together.  
Before there were Pokémon on earth, they lived in the Epic System. They were a highly intelligent and advanced race. But the Epic Star, their sun, is old and about to become a red giant. If they are to escape extinction, they must move to another planet before their system is swallowed up.  
Started: 14/6/01  
  
  
Fate.  
Destiny.  
A dictionary would give both words almost the same meaning. But language has its holes. Why then, would you refer to a doomed person as fated? Why not destined?  
Destiny and Fate are two different things, vastly powerful and intangible forces, acting on everything, living or not. Sometimes they are separate, sometimes almost merging. Destiny controls life. Fate controls the event of death. When the two merge, death is part of your Destiny, and so is inescapeable.  
  
Destiny and Fate now came close together. They shone upon the Epic System. The Epic System got its name from the epic tale that would become a legend, the epic tale that was now about to take place as a reality. It was time to decide the future of a race. The race called Pokémon.  
***  
{Great Mew, why have you called us here?}  
Lugia bowed his head respectfully. The Legendary Pokémon sat silently in their leader's presence. Mew rarely showed herself to anyone unless there was a serious reason.  
Legendary Pokémon, I have come to discuss with you a matter of great importance,  
The Legendary Pokémon lived on the eighteenth planet of the Epic System, the Legendary Epic. Great Mew had called all the Legendary Pokémon to the meeting place, a mystical hidden valley.  
From the outside at least, it looked like a valley. But inside, under the bright clear sun in the azure sky, the sparkling blue sea lapped gently at the smooth white sand, which gave way to lush, deep, emerald green grass. The grass in turn gave way to cold, unforgiving, hard white ice cliffs, rising steeply until they seemed to touch the steely grey clouds. The entire place was in stark contrast to itself, while at the same time being in strange harmony.  
Mew floated a few feet off the ground, the ice cliffs to her right. Lugia and Ho-oh were directly in front of her, and behind them were the other Legendary Birds and the Legendary Dogs.  
High up on the ice cliffs, Celebi watched the meeting. Celebi too had been called here, and watched silently.  
Lugia raised his head and folded his wings. The other Pokémon bowed as well, then listened attentively to Mew's words.  
As you know, our sun, the Epic Star, is old. It is under constant watch should it display any significant or potentially dangerous changes or activities. It has now come to my attention that it will soon reach the point of its cycle where it explodes, or becomes a red giant. When this happens, the Epic System will be engulfed and burned into oblivion,  
Mew fixed a steady eye on all Pokémon present. If we are within the System when this happens, we will certainly be wiped out. The Pokémon race will become extinct.  
Mew watched every Pokémon's expression. Entei was the first to speak.  
{I am a believer in Destiny. In my opinion, it is obvious that our time in this world is up, and we are destined to become extinct, so a new race might take our place.}  
Lugia shook his head. {I disagree. I too, am a believer in Destiny, but I also believe in Fate.}  
Moltres spoke up. But aren't Destiny and Fate almost the same?  
{Yes, as you said they are almost. But not completely. Entei, you have confused the two. Our Fate seems to be that we will become extinct. But is it not our Destiny to try and subvert Fate, and be destined to live on until Fate can claim us?}  
Ho-oh considered Lugia's words, and answered. {I think Lugia is right. For why do we have great intelligence and technology, if not to use to our fullest extent, in this case to ensure our survival?}  
{I see your point, Lugia. I now better understand Destiny and Fate. I agree with you both that we should try to avoid extinction.}  
However you look at life, it all really comes down to a struggle for survival, Articuno added.  
One by one now, all Pokémon looked at each other and nodded slowly. It was agreed.  
Thankyou all for your wise words. I am sure we now all agree on what must be done, said Mew.  
{Great Mew, there is now only one question: what are we going to do? said Suicune.  
I think the question may rather be how? For I see only one solution: we must move to another planet, replied Zapdos.  
You are right, Zapdos. We will move to another planet, said Mew.  
{But Great Mew, which planet could we move to?} asked Raikou.  
Mew concentrated, and created a holographic image of a blue and green planet.  
This is the one, she said. It is called Earth.  
***  
All was quiet and life went on as normal on the first planet in the Epic System, the Fire Epic. The Pokémon got on with their lives in the way they preferred, a natural existence. The amazing technology they owned was used only in emergencies, thus keeping their world uncluttered and untainted by unnecessary surpluses of technological advances.  
The Fire Epic was a hot, dry, rugged, volcanic planet. Scorching deserts dominated most of the land, with the rest taken up by dormant and active volcanoes, great stretches of mountain ranges, occasional oceans and rocky, infertile plains. It was the home of Fire-Type Pokémon, the climate being ideal as it was the closest planet to the sun.  
The leader of the planet was Great Charizard. Great Charizard was not a dictator, just a leader. He made the decisions affecting the whole planet, and generally acted like a leader of a herd of Pokémon, except his herd was the entire population of the Fire Epic.  
Great Charizard lay in his favourite sunbaking spot, just at the bottom of a huge dormant volcano. It was summer and the weather was perfect. He yawned, stretched and rolled over. Half asleep, he paid no attention to the sound of stones rolling behind him.  
  
The figure in the shadows near Great Charizard cursed at his own clumsiness. It was he who had set the stones rolling. He flattened himself against a boulder and held his breath, listening and watching for any signs of stirring from Great Charizard. When the figure saw that he was dozing off, he released the breath he was holding, and edged closer.  
The figure was actually a Typhlosion, who everyone called Bully, because that is what he was. He wasn't just a bully, he was mean and deceitful, and trusted by nobody.  
Bully hadn't always been like this. He was abandoned as a baby, and had never had a secure home or any family. His sadness had worn off as he got older and was replaced by a bitterness. He and Great Charizard had been enemies ever since they first met. When Great Charizard had been chosen to be leader of the Fire Epic over him, Bully's sorrow, anger, bitterness and hatred for everyone, especially Great Charizard, had crystallised. Now all Bully wanted was to overthrow Great Charizard, and rule over all the Fire Pokémon. He would finally get the attention he had never had. This was the reason he was sneaking up on Great Charizard.  
In the past, no matter how many times he tried, Bully could never defeat him in battle. Great Charizard was too strong. This only made Bully angrier and more determined. He would beat Great Charizard, even if it meant he had to kill him to hold the position unchallenged. No other Fire Pokémon on the whole planet was as strong as Bully.  
So now Bully planned to gain the battle advantage with a surprise attack. If he moved fast enough and got in before Great Charizard had a chance to fight back, he could injure him, and then it would be over soon. Bully would kill Great Charizard and take over his leadership.  
  
With a roar, Bully leapt. In a flash, Great Charizard was awake, but it was already too late. Bully held him to the ground. With another roar he unleashed a powerful Fire Blast attack on Great Charizard.  
Great Charizard roared and writhed in pain, but Bully held fast. Bully slammed Great Charizard's head into the rocky ground. Great Charizard shook his head, and cleared his thoughts. With an angry cry, he stood up and took off flying.   
Bully held on, but Great Charizard flew at such a speed that with a shock he realised he was slipping. Bully slid over Great Charizard's back, and grabbed ahold of his foot. Great Charizard began to fly down, and then with a mighty effort kicked out and sent Bully crashing hard into the ground.   
Great Charizard landed softly and watched as Bully slowly and painfully got up. Great Charizard looked into his eye, and said nothing for a second. Bully looked away from his gaze uncomfortably. Finally, Great Charizard spoke.  
You coward, he said in a calm but cold and angry voice. You cannot even issue an honorable challenge. I should have nothing to do with a Pokémon low enough to make surprise attacks, but this is the the final straw. It is time for me to put an end to this.  
With those words, Great Charizard roared fearsomely and directed a powerful Flamethrower at Bully.   
Bully cringed, and cried out in pain and anger. He fixed Great Charizard with a murderous stare. No, I will end this! I will have my revenge on you, Great Charizard! he sneered, spitting out the word "Great" as if it tasted bad. He let out a horrible mixture of a roar, a scream and a snarl, and charged furiously at Great Charizard, the flame collar on his neck flaring angrily. Bully leapt and sank his teeth into Great Charizard's stomach. Great Charizard stepped back, slightly surprised, but retaliated by punching Bully in the head. Bully unwillingly let go as he was knocked over by the punch.  
This battle was unlike any Pokémon battle in history. It was furious, cold-blooded fighting, and full of hatred. The Pokémon inflicted serious injuries on each other, actually drawing blood as well as lowering Hit Points.  
Bully snarled wildly and slashed at Great Charizard frenziedly. Great Charizard stepped back with a scream of pain, then faced Bully again and slashed him across the face. While Bully was crying in pain Great Charizard bashed him in the stomach with his head. Bully fell over backwards, and stayed there. He opened his eyes and the two Pokémon rested, breathing heavily. Great Charizard fixed Bully in a stony stare, while Bully glared defiantly back. But the defiance did not last long, and was replaced with a look of defeat. Bully slumped down on the ground, fainted. Great Charizard stayed still for a few seconds, breathing deeply, before turning and limping back to his home.  
  
As Great Charizard dragged himself to the mouth of his cave, his last remaining ounce of strength was worn away, and he flopped down on the ground just inside the cave.  
A Charmeleon rushed to his side. Dad? There was no response.   
***  
That night, Great Charizard had recovered a fair bit with care and attention, and was now lying comfortably in his cave with his family after managing a fair meal.  
His family listened to his story of Bully's surprise attack.  
Great Charizard's son, a strong and intelligent Charmeleon, had called Great Charizard's mate after Great Charizard had fainted in the cave doorway, and together the two had brought him in and made him comfortable, cleaning his wounds and getting him to take some water.  
Now, Great Charizard felt vastly better, but knew that he was not at his full health yet and should spend a few days resting.  
  
There was a cough at the cave entrance, and a Ninetails stepped into view. Excuse me, Great Charizard, but I bring a message for you and your family, it said, bowing.  
With difficulty, Great Charizard sat up. Go on, he said.  
Great Mew and the Legendary Pokémon have reached the decision that we will be leaving the Epic System shortly for another planet, the Ninetails said, standing up straight.  
Another planet? Why? asked the Charmeleon.  
It has been confirmed that sometime between now and the next few years, our sun will explode and destroy the Epic System, so we will be called to take all Pokémon to the planet designated by Great Mew.  
Thankyou, said Great Charizard. You should leave now. The rest of the Pokémon must be notified.  
They will be. Thankyou for your time, Great Charizard. The Ninetails bowed again and left.  
As Great Charizard settled back down, a cry came from the Ninetails, causing him to sit back up.  
Great Charizard and his family rushed outside, to see what had upset the Ninetails.   
The Ninetails was staring up at the sky.  
What is wrong? asked Great Charizard.  
The Ninetails gestured towards the sky. Blocking out the Fire Epic's only moon was a giant brown spacecraft, about half the size of the Epic Star. It was triangular in shape, with two huge engines at the back and what seemed to be a laser on the front.  
There is an unidentified craft in our airspace, said the Ninetails.  
  
  
TO BE CONTINUED...  
  
Finished: 14/6/01  
Wow... Even I'm surprised. I didn't know I could write like that. PLEASE review!!! 


	2. Part 2

21st Century Vulpix presents  
  
THE FIRST EPIC: PART TWO  
By PinkScyther  
  
DISCLAIMER: Once again, none... although I guess Charwings are a rip off of Arwings...  
  
Alright... What is the strange craft doing? Why is it in the Epic System? Its reasons, the Pokémon discover, are far from friendly...   
Started: 15/6/01  
  
  
Great Charizard winced in pain as he struggled to his feet.  
No, you can't get up... cried his mate.  
I have to, Great Charizard replied. Quick, notify Great Mew! he barked. And see if you can get any communication going with the mothership! The Ninetails ran off. The three Fire Pokémon stared up into the sky.  
  
All over the planet, the news was spreading that a UFO had been spotted near the Fire Epic. Feelings were mixed. Some were scared. Some were excited.  
But on the Legendary Epic, Great Mew was worried. The appearance of this craft could throw off all her plans. And her instincts told her that the occupants of that craft were unfriendly. Had they been friendly, wouldn't they have attempted to communicate with one of the Epics?  
Her fears were confirmed when she received the message from the Fire Epic. Communication attempts with the mothership were unsuccessful. Well, not entirely. The mothership had cut the Fire Epic's communicators off, with just one word.  
"Surrender."  
***  
Back on the Fire Epic, Great Charizard was now at the Communications Tower. Through the window he could see ten of the Epic's own craft, now heading in the direction of the huge brown shape that was the mothership.   
He listened intently into a pair of headphones as a message came through from the leader of the fleet.  
Should we attack the ship?  
Great Charizard hesitated, thinking, before replying. Try once more to get through to them,  
He listened again, and soon the leader replied No reply.  
He sighed. Okay, attack!  
  
Out in space, ten small, trianguar ships altered their direction and began firing at the enemy mothership. The Charwings were white with red wings, and a Charizard painted on the front. From the lasers built into their wings, they fired searing rays of heat.  
The small fleet fired and hit the enemy mothership over and over again, yet there was no sign of retaliation.  
Why aren't they fighting back? Something's wrong... frowned Great Charizard, now watching the action on a video screen. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement behind the Charwings. Triangular brown ships the same size as the Charwings were sneaking up behind his fleet. As he watched, they were joined by more coming from their mothership.  
He grabbed his radio. There's a surprise attack coming from behind! he cried.   
Out in space, the leader received the message and accelerated, trying to turn around in the limited space. But the enemy fleet began firing at them.  
Suddenly, the sky erupted into a dazzling display of flashing lasers and u-turning ships. The brown craft advanced on the Charwings, shepherding them away from their mothership. The Charwings fought back. A brown craft was hit by a laser, and smoke began to pour from the wing. The ship veered back towards its mothership, but one of the Charwings broke away and chased it. Another laser hit, and the brown craft exploded.  
This only seemed to anger the pilots of the brown craft, and they chased the Charwings with greater fervour.  
Great Charizard's radio crackled, and he jumped. Then a voice came over it.  
"Surrender now, foolish Pokémon. Your puny civilisation cannot withstand the power of the Neo empire!"  
Great Charizard's eyes narrowed. The Neos...  
Great Charizard had heard of the Neos. They were arrogant and tyrannical, and were constantly looking for more races to conquer. They were bent on expanding their empire. They had becaome crazed, overtaken by an overwhelming desire to constantly add to their huge empire. There were many tales of wars won by them. There were very few of others winning against the Neos.  
And now, they were coming after the Pokémon. Did the Neos realise that the Pokémon were distracted now, with plans to move to another planet?  
The radio broke into his thoughts. "Mua ha ha! The Neos are the race of the future! Mua ha haaa!"  
Angrily, Great Charizard flicked his tail. He hit the radio and it crashed to the floor, cutting off the Neo Leader's evil laughter.  
Disgusted, he turned back to the video screen, just in time to see his leader's ship hit by a Neo laser. The Charwing started smoking, then went into a lazy spiral. Great Charizard held his breath, but the pilot managed to stabilize and fly, a little shakily, into the mothership Big Charizard.  
Great Charizard grabbed the radio from the floor. He scrambled to plug it back in and make sure it was working, then he breathed a sigh of relief as the message from Big Charizard reached his ears.  
Great Charizard? Do you read?  
I'm receiving you, Big Charizard, he replied.  
There is severe damage to Leader Growlithe's ship. Requesting backup.  
Okay, I'm on my way. In the meantime, can you cover us?  
Affirmative.  
  
Great Charizard climbed into his Charwing and looked at the fleet surrounding him.   
Almost all of the Fire Epic's forces were being sent as backup. Bully is in one of those ships, Great Charizard thought uneasily. The bite mark on his stomach still hurt. He rubbed a bruise on his arm, then began warming up his Charwing.  
As the craft flew higher, Great Charizard's wounds were bothering him more and more. But he shook his head and forced himself to concentrate. Ahead of him, the shape of Big Charizard loomed. Great Charizard spoke into the radio.  
Big Charizard? Are you reading me?  
We read you, Great Charizard.  
Try to keep out of the battle. Watch our backs, and stand by for damaged Charwings.  
Affirmative.  
Great Charizard nodded to himself, then accelerated towards the dark, ugly shape of the Neo mothership.  
The nine Charwings were now in dire need of backup. One of them was scorched black all down the left side. Great Charizard narrowed his eyes and armed the laser. He sneaked in behind one of the Neo ships and fired. BOOM! Direct hit. The entire ship blew up.   
It seemed to panic the Neos momentarily, as they came face to face with the backup. But no sooner had they recovered than they began relentlessly gunning down every Charwing in sight. And no matter how many Neo ships were shot down, more kept coming from the mothership.   
If only, Great Charizard thought, there was some way to destroy the mothership. He looked at the huge engines on the back, and then it hit him.  
Keep the Neo craft distracted, he said into the radio, addressing all the Charwing pilots. I am about to blow up the mothership's engines, so keep clear.  
Great Charizard slowed down, then altered his angle so he ended up behind the Neo mothership. As he aimed his laser, a Charwing shot across his path, closely followed by a Neo craft. In the short glimpse he got of the Charwing, Great Charizard saw through the windscreen a figure he knew only too well. Bully.  
As he watched, Bully's Charwing dodged and desperately tried to shake the Neo craft, but in vain. The Neo ship fired a single laser, and blew off Bully's right wing.   
The Charwing plummeted blindly toward the Fire Epic. Great Charizard craned his neck to watch, but all he saw was the orange explosion of flame from the wrecked ship.  
Despite the fact that the evil Typhlosion was his worst enemy, Great Charizard was still outraged.  
The Neos had killed Bully.  
  
  
TO BE CONTINUED...  
  
Finished: 16/6/01  
Just a warning, but something kinda bad is gonna happen to Great Charizard, so any Charizard fans might not wanna keep reading this. So don't flame me, I warned you.  



	3. Part 3

21st Century Vulpix presents  
  
THE FIRST EPIC: PART THREE  
By PinkScyther  
  
DISCLAIMER: Any previous Disclaimers apply.  
  
Bully has been shot down, and Great Charizard is about to blow up the Neo mothership. The question is whether he can pull the stunt off safely, given his condition.  
Started: 23/6/01  
  
  
Great Charizard could no longer stand the sight of the flames. He whipped his head round, beads of sweat flying off it, and tried to focus his mind on what was happening.  
The Neo mothership had moved. It was now even closer to the Epic Star. Great Charizard shook himself and tried to ignore the aching in his shoulders, head, back, stomach and most of his body. He adjusted his angle and began to accelerate.  
BOOM!  
The entire Charwing rocked and shuddered. Great Charizard turned in alarm to see that there was damage to the right wing. He checked the rear-view mirror just above the windscreen.  
Almost invisible against the blackness of space, he made out the shape of a Neo craft. It had sneaked up behind him while he was distracted. Quickly, he swerved to the left and another shot hurtled past, disappearing harmlessly into the distance.  
Great Charizard cursed his stupidity at letting himself be distracted. It would be hard to shake this Neo.  
He rolled the Charwing to the right and peeled off, heading downwards. The Neo was quick to react and followed, as Great Charizard had anticipated. Quickly Great Charizard steered upwards.  
Before the Neo had time to react, he veered left and accelerated. He checked the mirror to see where the Neo craft was.   
Great Charizard couldn't believe his eyes. It was still right behind him! No wonder these guys are so successful, he thought bitterly. They must go through hours of practice. Great Charizard steeled himself and then sent the Charwing into another roll. He spun it rapidly and pulled up sharply, flying almost straight up, the Charwing almost vertical.  
He stopped spinning and made a sharp right turn. The Charwing was now on it's side. A quick check of the mirror showed the Neo was still behind him but having trouble catching up. He returned his gaze to the windscreen and began to fly upwards again.  
Great Charizard began to accelerate, and didn't stop. The Charwing gained more and more speed. There was a wild glint in his tired eye as Great Charizard guided the craft until it was flying upside down.  
The Charwing made a complete backflip. Great Charizard was now behind the Neo. With a bitter smile he opened fire, hitting the Neo craft repeatedly, without pausing for a second.   
There was a small explosion and the Neo craft began to spiral, but still Great Charizard shot it, over and over and over, until it exploded into millions of tiny fragments in a great orange and yellow fireball.  
The rush of adrenaline wore off as quickly as it had come, leaving Great Charizard panting, sweat running down his head and neck in tiny rivulets. He began to feel sick, and only partly due to his injuries. He had mercilessly demolished that Neo craft. In cold blood, during the heat of the moment. He had savagely destroyed it, sparing no thought for the Neo inside.  
The Neo probably wasn't even one of the original species. It was probably one of a poor race conquered by the Neos, and forced into fighting their wars. They did the fighting, while the original Neos sat around in the mothership or on the home planet, lazing around and gloating. The original Neos had no decency, no shame.  
Great Charizard looked around at all the small brown craft, doing battle with his own red and white ships. His head throbbed, and he shivered, sending another spray of cold sweat droplets over the interior of the Charwing. He felt even sicker now, with these thoughts. Great Charizard leaned his head against the windscreen, eyes closed, breathing heavily.  
  
CRASH!  
The jolt forced his eyes open as his head bounced painfully off the windscreen. He saw in the rear-view mirror that the impact had been caused by a Neo craft crashing into his Charwing. As he watched, it lined up for another kamikaze shot.  
What was the point of trying to avoid the hit? he wondered wearily. This fight is futile. I can't go through with it. I just can't do it. Great Charizard closed his eyes again.   
Face it, he thought. We're not going to win. We will fight bravely, but there are too many of them for us. At least if we are conquered by the Neos, we will still most likely escape from here. Why prolong the agony? Why put off the inevitable.  
Great Charizard held his head. It was aching even more. But as he sat there, leaning against the windscreen, images played over his mind. He saw his fleet, fighting their best against the Neos. Fighting for their honor and freedom. The odds were against them, but still they clutched at those few threads of hope.   
Great Charizard saw his planet. Millions of Fire Pokémon, all putting their lives, or at least their freedom, in the hands of Great Charizard and the fleet. They were the only chance of hope for them.  
He saw Bully, being shot down. Even he had fought for others. He had given his life.  
And finally, Great Charizard saw his family. His mate, intelligent, kind, optimistic. She had faith in him. And his son. The thought of the young Charmeleon looking up to him stirred Great Charizard.   
He opened his eyes. All his previous thought were banished from his mind. Great Charizard started thinking clearly again. These Neos may not want to fight, but they were going to anyway, and they were going to win. Unless Great Charizard had anything to do with it.  
We are going to win, he told himself confidently. He smiled momentarily, but quickly focussed on the incoming attack. He wasted no time. Great Charizard wrenched the controls and the Charwing swerved violently. The brown Neo craft shot harmlessly past and hit one of it's own team. There was another explosion, but Great Charizard did not see it. He grabbed the radio and addressed his pilots.   
Keep clear. I'm going for the engines. With a look of determination, Great Charizard adjusted his Charwing's angle, and accelerated toward the Neo mothership.  
Great Charizard armed his laser, then quickly drew in as close as he dared to the mothership. He aimed carefully, and then fired the laser.  
Time seemed to stand still. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The laser shot towards the mothership. It crashed into the left engine, which imploded.  
Just then Great Charizard realised his mistake. In the excitement of the moment he had not hit the brakes, and now was too close to the engines...  
BOOM!  
The explosion was huge. Great Charizard's Charwing was caught in the fireball and blown backwards. The wings were all but blown off. The body was scorched black. It began to plummet uncontrollably toward the Fire Epic.  
Great Charizard was strangely calm. He had plenty of time to turn and see the Neo mothership, unable to steer itself out of danger, be sucked into the Epic Star. He had plenty of time to see the massive explosion. He saw the Neo craft that were too close be burned up by it.   
Great Charizard turned back around, and radioed a message to all the pilots and Big Charizard.  
It's not over yet. We have won the battle, and we are going to win the war.  
Great Charizard stayed calm, right up until a few seconds before the Charwing crashed.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED...  
  
Finished: 23/6/01  
*sniff* Poor Great Charizard... *bursts into tears* ... What? I can't help it if I cry over my own stories! I don't like characters to die! 


End file.
